A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Visiting a Friend

The Prime Minister and the President

A lot of people are trying to spin President Obama’s
upcoming visit to Israel this week in
their own image. People on both sides of the divide see this trip designed to
re-start the peace process.

The left that think settlements are an impediment to peace
and know the President shares that view. So they are hopeful that he will
somehow use his personal charm and considerable influence to halt settlement
construction with an eye towards re-starting peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Those on the right see the same thing, only instead of
supporting it, they are vehemently opposed to it - believing that settlements are
not the real issue. They instead see the President’s mission as forcing Israel to stop settlement construction at a time when they need it most (...because of natural growth and the perceived (by the right) value
of outlying settlements as bulwarks against terrorism).

I think they are both wrong. I don’t see any plan. I see an
impasse. I think the President sees that too. If he had any kind of plan that
he thinks would have even the slightest chance at success at re-kindling the
peace process he would have suggested it by now.

The President doesn’t need face time with Israeli leadership
to make these kinds of suggestions. Israeli leaders know full well how
important the relationship with the United States is. Even the current Prime Minister bends over
backwards to accommodate the President’s wishes whenever he can if he doesn’t
see it as compromising their security or other national interests.

I have always maintained that the President is sincere in
his attempts to convince both Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate peace in
the form of a two state solution believing it to be the best of all possible worlds for all concerned. Whether settlements are an issue on any level can be debated
by people of good will. But I don’t
think any fair minded observer (and I emphasize fair minded) on either side of
the issue can dispute the President’s noble
intent.

My view on this issue is somewhere between these two
extremes. I do not support settlement building at this time because the gain
does not outweigh the loss of good will generated by acceding to the Presdient’s
wishes. But I don’t believe they are the
main impediment to peace either. With little exception, I would therefore prefer
if Israel does not move forward with expansion of settlements at this time. There is no advantage to spitting in the face
of the leader of a country that is your biggest supporter. Especially while he’s
there. That would be a major mistake.

That said, I do not believe that the President will press
Israel to stop settlement during this trip. Not that he has changed his mind.
But that he doesn’t want to waste the opportunity to build on the relationship
between the two countries.

Unlike some of his biggest detractors, I believe that the
President actually likes Israel and values the friendship of the Israeli people. I doubt that he buys into all the anti Israel
rhetoric one hears so frequently from Israel’s enemies. Like accusations that
they are guilty of Apartheid for instance. I’m not saying he doesn’t see
Palestinian suffering. I’m sure he does. But like me, he understands that their
suffering is due in large part from security measures Israel takes because of a
history of being attacked by their own people through terrorist organizations like Hamas.

Hamas is still considered a terrorist organization by the
US. The President never suggested for a moment that Hamas be removed from the State
Depratment list of terrorist organizations. Same thing Hezbollah. Although he
may feel that Israel could do better I also believe that he understands Israel’s
position and for the most part does not blame them for the suffering of the
Palestinians.

I also believe that he values Israel as an important ally as
well as a friend. That’s why he approved scarce budget dollars to be spent on the
very successful ‘Iron Dome’ anti missile defense system. And why military
and intelligence cooperation between the two countries has never been closer! He
sees a Israel as a country of shared values and its people much like those of
his own country.

The problem is with the way he started off his Presidency
with respect to his Middle East foreign policy. Although that too was well
intentioned, it was a mistake. He made overtures to the Arab nations by going
over there intending to reset the US relationship with them while at the same time being
highly critical of their their anti Israel attitude and their revisionist
attitude about the Holocaust. But he erred by not visiting Israel as well. Although
he did not intend it that way - he in effect snubbed his closest ally in the
Middle East.

That began a cycle of mistrust of the President by the
Israeli people. He was initially seen as
tilting towards the Arabs. He has not fully recovered from that perception. Israel
and many of its supporters felt that once he was in the neighborhood he should
have at least stopped off and paid his friend a visit. The perception of being snubbed set the tone.

The second thing that further caused a perceived rift was
when Israel’s Prime Minister showed poor judgement on his first visit to the
White House by publicly lecturing the President. That did not help matters cooling
off of the relationship even further– at least publicly. Especially when the
President was caught off guard telling the French President what a hard time he
had with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Some pundits characterized the relationship between the President
and the Prime Minister as one where the
two leaders hated each other. I don’t think that is accurate. I’m not saying
that they are kindred spirits. But I don’t think ‘hate’ is the right word. I
think that the two actually respect each other even while they disagree on some
key issues. I do not think Netanyahu is his enemy by any stretch of the
imagination – any more than House Speaker John Boehner is.

So why is he going to Israel? I believe that this trip is to
repair the negative image he has in Israel. I doubt that he will do or say
anything to them about the peace process or settlements – except to perhaps pay
some lip service to it.

It is therefore my considered opinion that Israel should put
on an unprecedented charm offensive - and treat
him like he was – well… the President of the United States and their
best friend. They should go out of their way to thank him for the considerable
amount of things he has done for them . They ought to make sure that they
talk as much as possible about the special relationship between the two countries; their shared democratic principles; and their commitment to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

There certainly ought not to be any demonstrations against him
by any dissident extremists like the die-hard price-taggers. Although there may
be some. As well as demonstrations about Jonathan Pollard – not that it will help
him one iota. If any demonstrations do happen I’m sure that the President will see it as an example of the great freedom of expression that Israel grants its citizens – just like the
United States does.

The Israeli public’s real concern right now is not the
Palestinians. If the last election showed anything it showed that their main
concern is how to solve the problem of ‘sharing the burden’. Meaning what to do about Charedim who insist
on remaining exempt from the draft. If the fractious new coalition government has any one thing in common – it is that. To
the chagrin of all the Charedi parties, they will have little to say about it having
been left out of the coalition. They are now in the opposition.

But I don’t think this will influence any part of the President’s
visit to Israel. I doubt that Charedim will be making an issue of this to the
President. So after all is said and done I think this trip should be a resounding
success that will enhance the relationship between Israel and the United States
to an unprecedented level.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.